One of my long time best friends is currently living in California, actually you may remember her from this post or from our time together in Copenhagen. I would be lying if I said I wasn't the teensiest weensiest bit jealous when I see pictures of her and her family outside in t-shirts!! Ugh, perhaps 9 years ago I should have considered California for my quarter life crisis (just kidding!).
I know that most of the Southern hemisphere is still in the throws of summer, not to mention the US West Coast, tropics and a great deal of the Eastern hemisphere as well...but in Europe it is still WINTER! Not to mention in Canada, most of the Northern hemisphere and of course the mid-West! So while I'll be blogging about Spring trends, many of my outfit posts will involve coats, hats and pants until almost June
A Gemini Woman
Before leaving for Milan I was contacted by the online store Gemini Woman based out of picturesque Stratford Upon Avon in the UK. They've worked with a number of fashion bloggers that I follow and love such as Fiona from Avenue 57, Catherine from Not Dressed As Lamb and Janey from Slice of Slim and they also asked if I would be willing to fly over for a photo-shoot with their photographer for one of the brands they currently sell!
Me....model? Like for an online store!!? With a make up artist and professional photographer in STRATFORD.....um YES!
But, actually....... I had to say no!
In 2016 I set a few goals for myself which means that I am already drowning in responsibilities and can't get away. The good news is I'm working on a ton of projects that are all going well, the bad news is if I disappear for another week (like I did for the MFW) my husband may officially loose his relative *cool*.
So the good people at Gemini offered to send me one of the beautiful Adini dresses to style, you can still find this style on their website and I think you'll love it for Spring....or in my case the end of winter!
How To Style a Spring Dress In The Winter
This past weekend I was inspired to wear the dress even though it is 100% cotton and from their Spring/Summer 2016 collection. I didn't pick out the dress, as they sent me one of the more popular styles that is selling out fast. I don't usually wear long tunic dresses and probably wouldn't have picked this out for myself, but it was fun creating an outfit that was out of the norm for me and in the end I really liked how I felt in it. It is an excellent value for the price of £53 and is still available here.
I would describe the weight as a "double linen" so it isn't exactly suitable for cold weather on its own, put layered it becomes the perfect transition piece from winter to spring. I am currently loving the pants layered under dresses look, which has been around since 2013 and is still going strong! If you need some inspiration I just started a Pinterest board dedicated to the trend!
Follow reasonstodress's board 2016 TREND - JEANS UNDER DRESSES on Pinterest.
It is so fun to get full use out of your clothes year round by mixing them, layering and of course adding in different accessories and shoes that you would never think of mixing in.
This is how I wore this light cotton dress in the winter:
LAYERED: A turtle neck underneath,boot cut jeans, a wool cardigan and coat on top, a thin chiffon scarf and a belt. The best thing about thin clothing is that it isn't bulky so you can have more fun with your layers and add in accessories without too much fabric in the way.
HEELS: If I was to style this dress in the spring or summer I would probably wear ballerina flats or sandals but a decent heel gives this rather simple form a more flattering feel and is perfect for office wear as well.
ACCESSORIES: I cinched at the waist with a wide belt (from one of my earlier collections a few years back) which gave this dress a more 70s retro vibe that I'm all over these days (remember this post of how to wear the new retro trend to work?
COLOR COMBOS: Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of layering a spring dress for winter is the fun you can have with colors. This dress is a deep (almost black) navy color, so I lightened it up with a turtle neck and leopard print Roberto Cavalli booties to play off the African wax print inspired fabric of the dress.
OPEN OUTERWEAR: I wore enough layers that I was warm enough outside to leave my coat open. You may have heard of the famous "add a third piece" rule, which basically means that to change up your "jeans and a shirt" style all you have to do is "add a third piece"!
Simple enough.
In this case a tunic or light dress over top of jeans is perfect, plus by wearing your coat open you can play with even more textures and depth in your outfits.
These photos were taken this past weekend for a pizza date with our friends in a spot that I really like in the centre of Modena. Pizza is an Italian institution and YES , it is true, Italians order a whole pizza per person....and for some reason they don't put on weight (at least not that much weight!!).
I loved their menus , which are up-cycled novels, not to mention their tiles. Recently they re-did the entire interior of the Accademia dei Dissonanti pizzera which is one of the only places for gluten-free pizza in the centre of Modena (btw).
I am a total sucker for beautiful interior design (something often lacking in pizzerias), so it helped that their stunning tiles went well with my dress!!
Have a great weekend everyone and I hope it involves yummy things, pretty interiors and beautiful spring dresses!
